Health groups call on fast-food to drop soda from kids' menu

Breitbart ^ | February 3, 2014 | UPI

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Health organizations and U.S. nutrition experts say they are calling on fast-food restaurant chains to take sugary drinks off their children's menus.

Margo G. Wootan, nutrition policy director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said McDonald's agreed to drop soda and sugary drinks from Happy Meal menus last year, and 100 U.S. and local health organizations along with nutritional experts said in a letter to Wendy's, Burger King and 21 other restaurant chains that they too should remove the items from their children's menus.

Subway, Chipotle, Arby's and Panera already exclude sugary drinks from kids' meals.

"With 1-in-3 children overweight or obese in the United States, it no longer makes sense to include sugary beverages in restaurant meals for young children," the letter said.

The groups quoted research published in The Lancet that found drinking just one additional sugary drink every day increases a child's chances of becoming obese by 60 percent, Wootan said.

[freedomfiter2]

It’s a great idea if private groups ask individual businesses to voluntarily not serve soda. Let the customers and the businesses choose.

[jsanders2001]

Those high fructose sugar laden fruit drinks are the solution. Yeah that’s the ticket.

[freedomfiter2]

Noooo! Not a bacon tax!

[exDemMom]

The rebound effect: where a kid is never allowed to consume anything just because it tastes good, and is always forced to eat “healthy” food—then becomes a junk food addict the moment he or she takes charge of his or her diet.

Moderation in everything is key. If kids aren’t taught moderation—and they are not when they are surrounded by orthorexics imposing their absolutism on them—then they have a high risk of becoming obese when they leave that rigid environment.

[Lmo56]

The fast food joints don’t give a damn - they’ll just be selling soda as a separate “side” to the Happy Meal [which will not include the soda as part of the meal] ...

Why do I think this, you say ???

Cuz the kidz are going to bitch and moan to Mom until she relents and buys the soda “side” for them ...

More profit for the fast food joints - Cha Ching !!!

[Wuli]

NO

these places should leave their menus alone

it is only that parents should not make the places a regular habit for meals for their children

in the vein of all things in moderation accepted, an occasional “treat” of a meal at one these places won’t hurt the health of kids whose parents don’t make a habit of it or let their kids make a habit of it

[redshawk]

Me too. Going out to eat was a real treat in my family. Maybe twice a year, and having a ice cold soda pop, french fries and ice cream were treats that us kids would cherish for many weeks afterward. Todays’ parents seem quite content in passing along their parental responsibility to the nanny state govt., Sadly, these kids will pass this trait on and on and on.....

[caww]

When raising my boys I rarely fixed hamburgers at home. I did that purposely as when we went out to eat eating a hamburger was like having steak to them!...and it was a treat when we went out to eat until they got older.

[caww]

.....”For the children”...

Anytime Government uses that phrase it should be a huge heads up... you can bet something more sinister is at play....always!

[caww]

.....”For the children”...

Anytime Government uses that phrase it should be a huge heads up... you can bet something more sinister is at play....always!

[redshawk]

For our birthday's, Mom would allow us kids to have what you want for dinner...well, if we could afford. For my tenth Bday, I selected WhiteCastle and Moms home made lemon meringue pie AND RC Cola.....yum....Fifty years later, I still cherish this memory and remember it like it was yesterday. After the dinner, Mom confided in me that our entire house hold budget was One Buck a day. One Buck for everything (me and five brothers). The next day, I got a job as a stock boy at the local store during the week and on the weekends, I got another job as a repair man....well boy...fixing sewing machines for some psyco Chinese guy who would scream constantly at me in Chinese. I was able to give Mom 15 dollars a week to help out.

[defconw]

It seemed to taste so much better then. I remember when we would go to the ice cream stand. It was an event! When my parents were first married, my dad was 19 and in the Air Force. Their threat was to go to Frieches (Bob’s Big Boy) on pay day.

[redshawk]

My Dad served on the Saratoga CVA60. Often times he would mention a Big Boy hamburger and how great it was. Me and my brothers, still to this day dream of having one. Further, when Dad would come home, the best time was fishing with my Dad. I'm old now, Grandpa, but I still miss my Dad.

[defconw]

I had one or more Big Boys, but not sure they are around anymore. I am 50 now :)

[CSM]

“director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest”

CSPI brought us the smoking bans, now it is time to move along to their next nanny actions. They were empowered by many FReepers that cheered their support for the derision of private property rights.

If it isn’t mandated, it will be banned. What a wonderful utopia we will have!

[CSM]

That is a nice story and you were wiser at 10 than many adults are today. In today’s environment, that psycho chinese guy would be breaking the child labor laws by hiring you.....

[elkfersupper]

I remember at 10 years of age being able to fill my Yamaha 80 up with gas, buy 2 Dr. Peppers, 2 Snickers Bars, 50 rounds of .22 LR and a pack of Marlboros, all for $2.50 and then drive off with a rifle on the handlebars to hunt rabbits all afternoon.

I hate it that my grandkids will not be able to experience that.

[Focault's Pendulum]

The groups quoted research published in The Lancet that found drinking just one additional sugary drink every day increases a child's chances of becoming obese by 60 percent, Wootan said.

WTF does this paragraph mean?

It's OK to have one sugary drink. but not an additional one?

And by what percentage does it increase a child's chances of becoming obese by 60 percent.